Ghost Lights in the Mythos

This is the first of (hopefully) a series of posts about tying in 'bizarre' or 'Fortean' phenomena into the Mythos, such as for use in gaming.

Ghost lights are a mysterious phenomenon known from many places around the world.

Marfa Lights: These strange lights appear to "dance" near the town of Marfa, Texas, on many nights. They have been seen in the Marfa area for at least 50 years. They are rarely seen close up. This much is common knowledge, but the true explanation is never mentioned. The Marfa Lights are in fact a strange form of fire vampire, less powerful and aggressive than the normal form.

These differences are caused by the fact that the form of fire vampire known by most Mythos scholars outside Texas is subject to the rulership of Cthugha. This violent, fearsome entity causes all creatures which serve it to become more aggressive; in its fire vampires, the changes affect not only their actions, but their fiery bodies as well.

Though they are not driven by the flaming wrath of Cthugha, any person approaching a Marfa Light too closely may be attacked.

Ropen: These strange lights found in New Guinea are often attributed by cryptozoologists to bioluminescent flying animals, such as relict pterosaurs, but they are generally another example of ghost lights.

(If you're not interested in the RPG side of the Mythos, then ignore the following:)

In d20, the fire vampires of Marfa have Wisdom and Charisma 2 points lower than normal; in BRP, they instead have POW reduced by 2. The Ropen of New Guinea are in fact identical to ordinary fire vampires.